The soft silence stretched between them. It wasn't suffocating, or unbearable, or something Erin felt the need to escape from. It was just there, like an open road, waiting for her to decide what came next.

Dax's arms around her were calming. He wasn't asking her to break apart. He wasn't pushing her to be anything other than what she already was. He was just there.

Erin exhaled, pressing her forehead against his chest, listening to the continuing rhythm of his heartbeat. "I don't know how to do this," she admitted. "I don't know how to just... let go."

Dax ran his fingers slowly through her hair, his voice low, steady. "You don't have to let go."

She swallowed hard. "Then what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You don't have to figure it all out tonight."

She let out a short, hollow laugh. "Yeah? And what if I never figure it out?"

Dax exhaled, tilting his head slightly so his chin rested against the top of her head. "Then I'll figure it out with you."

Her breath hitched.

Because that... that was what she'd been afraid of.

Not the racing. Not the rivalries. Not even losing, because she could handle those. She could fight through those.

But letting someone stand beside her, see every jagged edge and rough scar, and not run the other way? That was new.

And Dax wasn't moving, nor was he asking for her to be anything but exactly who she was.

The weight in her chest shifted; less like a crushing weight, more like something heavy that she had finally let rest.

"Jamie would've liked you," she murmured suddenly.

Dax huffed a quiet laugh, his breath warm against her skin. "That so?"

"Yeah." Erin smirked slightly. "He would've given you shit at first, but once he saw you could actually drive? He would've approved."

Dax chuckled. "Guess that means I'm doing something right."

"Don't let it go to your head, Carter."

"No promises."

She sighed, shifting slightly, letting her head rest more comfortably against him. "You really mean what you said earlier?"

"About what?"

"About me not having to hold everything in all the time?"

Dax's arms tightened slightly, just for a moment, as if to reinforce it. "Yes, Erin. I meant it."

"Even if I get pissed off for no reason?"

"Yep."

"Even if I don't wanna talk?"

"Still here."

She hesitated. "Even if I cry again?"

Dax pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his voice quiet, firm. "Especially then."

She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. Somehow, that was exactly what she needed to hear. And for the first time since Jamie died, she didn't feel like she had to carry it alone.